Apparatus for securing end sheets for books



Jan. 9, 1968 3,362,865

. APPARATUS FOR SEOURING END SHEETS FOR BOOKS y 4 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Nov. l, 1963 IIII "llllluunu" INVENTOR MM .M

BY WQ ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 9, 1968 M. sT sENDoR APPARATUS FOR SECURING END SHEETS FOR BOOKS 4 Shee'cs-Sheerl 2 l INVENTOR mumm ATTORNEYS.

Filed Nov. l,

M. S. SENDOR Jan. 9, 1968 3,362,865 APPARATUS FOR SECURING END SHEETS FOR BOOKS 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. l, 1963 INVENTOR WAM ATTORNEYS.

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M. s. sENDoR 3,362,865

APPARATUS FOR SECURING END SHEETS FOR BOQKS Jan. 9, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Nov. 1, 1963 INVENTOR WM\W BYMMQMMN ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent O 3,362,865 APPARATUS FOR SECURING END SHEETS FOR BOOKS Mortimer S. Sentlor, 80-30 221st St., Queens Village, N.Y. 11427 Filed Nov. 1, 1963, Ser. No. 320,675 11 Claims. (Cl. 156-477) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLSURE This specification discloses apparatus for operating on a partially finished book which is secured together by side stitching or the like and with end sheets and reinforcing material attached to the sheets of the book by the same stitching which holds the sheets together. Front and back covers are folded along lines close to but forward of the stitching and the outer panels of the covers are secured to overlying portions of the reinforcing material. The inner panels of the covers are secured to the end sheets. This apparatus applies adhesive over the reinforcing strips across an area from the binding edge to a line forward of the stitch, and then folds the reinforcing back over the adhesive to cover the stitch. This operation unfolds the covers but subsequent folding means bend the covers and reinforcing strips forward again along new folds which coincide with the back edge of the book.

This invention relates to bookbinding and more particularly to the attaching of covers to books that have side stitching.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for 'binding books. The invention has end sheets of paper secured to cloth or other reinforcing material which is folded back on itself to provide a more secure connection of the front and back covers to the book while leaving the covers free to open flat. The invention will be described using cloth but paper, cheese cloth, or plastic sheeting can be used and is to be considered an equivalent in the broader aspects of this invention.

As applied to side sewn books, the invention connects the cloth portion of the end sheets with the other sections of the book by direct connection with the stitching, and the clolh is then folded back upon and secured to itself in such a way as to cover the stitching and leave a neat and finished appearance to the cover in both its open and closed conditions.

Another object is to provide apparatus for preparing a book, and especially a side sewn book, to receive the covers and with successive operations performed automatically so as to obtain a uniform product and greatly reduced cost.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear or be pointed out as the description proceeds.

In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views:

FIGURE 1 is an isometric View of a partially finished book illustrating the way in which the end sheets are connected with the other sections of the book prior to folding the cloth portions back on themselves;

FIGURE 2 is a greatly enlarged sectional view taken on the plane 2 2 of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 and showing the end sheet with the cloth portion reinforcement folded back part way;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 but showing the cloth portion of the end sheets folded back on itself all the way and secured by adhesive;

FIGURE 5 is a View similar to FIGURE 4 but showing URE 3 to those shown in the next step in the manufacture of the book, the end sheets being folded forward again;

FIGURE 6A is a view of a portion of a machine for carrying out the operations of FIGURES 2-5 automatically;

FIGURE 6B is a view showing the remaining portions of the machine illustrated in FIGURE 6A;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of FIGURE 6A.

FIGURES 8 through 13 are sectional views taken on the section lin-es 8 8 through 13-13, respectively, of FIGURES 6A and B; and

FIGURE 14 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a completed book made in accordance with the present invention.

FIGURES 1 and 2 show a book 20 which is made with a plurality of separate sections 22 secured together by side stitching 24 in accordance with one form of bookbinding practice.

With this invention there are a group of front end panels, or sheets 31, 32, and 33. These end sheets are preferably paper and outer and inner sheets or panels 31 and 32, respectively, which are the front dy leaves of the books, are of one piece construction and are connected together yat a fold 34. A strip of cloth 36 extends for the lfull height of the sheets 31, 32 and 33, as shown in FIGURE 1. The cloth strip or portion 36 is secured to the sheet 33 by adhesive 38 throughout the entire height of the strip or portion 36. The stitching 24 extends through the end sheet 33 and the cloth portion 36, as shown in FIGURE 2.

The cloth portion 36 is also secured to the outer sheet or panel 31 by other adhesive 38. In the drawing, the thickness of the sheets and cloth portion 36 is exaggerated for clearer illustration; and in actual practice the connection of the cloth portion 36 to the sheet 33 extends all the way down to the fold 34 since the sheets 31 and 32 are extremely thin as compared to the sections illustrated in the drawings.

There are sheets and a cloth portion at the back of the book; on the right as viewed in FIGURE 2, and these parts are indicated by the `same reference characters as at the front of the book but with a prime appended.

After the book has been stitched together by the stitching 24, with the end sheets 31, 32 and 33 connected to the other sections of the book, as illustrated in FIG- URE 2, the next step consists in coating the outside of the cloth strip or portion 36 with adhesive 40 for a substantial area extending for the full height of the book and for a distance inward to the region of the fold 34. The sheet 31 is then moved upwardly away from the sheet 32, as shown in FIGURE 3. The fold 34 opens up and approaches a straight angle as the portion 36 and sheet 31 are moved from the positions shown in FIG- FIGURE 4.

In FIG'URE 4 the cloth portion 36 is pressed against the adhesive 4()` so that the area of the cloth portion 36 which is folded back on the adhesive coated area is secured to that area by the adhesive 40.

The sheet 31 and the cloth portion 36 are then scored along a line 42 extending for the full height of the book. This provides a weakened line along which the sheet 31 and cloth portion 36 can be bent downwardly again into the position shown in FIGURE 5. This forms a new fold at the score line 42 and the fold is indicated by the same reference character as the score line.

The outer sheet or panel 31 is originally made substantially Iwider than the other sheets of the ibook so that when it is opened upward to the position shown in FIG- URE 4 and then folded downwardly again into the position shown in FIGURE 5, the forward edge 46 of the sheet 31 is still as far out as are the other pages of the assasss book. Thus when the pages are sheared to give the book its nal dimensions, the sheet 31 has some extending area that can be sheared to bring it even with the other pages.

Referring again lto FIGURE 5 it will 'be apparent that board covers attached to :sheets 31 can open fiat since they hinge at the folds 42 and 42' which are even with the back of the book.

A sectional view through the principal portion of a nished book is shown in FIGURE 14. In FIGURE 14 the sheets 31, 32 and 33, together with the cloth portion 36 are shown as an integral unit designated by the reference character 50. The cover for the front of the book is indicated by the reference charcter 52. A rear cover 52 is secured to the rearward assembly 50 and `the covers 52 and S2' are preferably secured to the confronting sheet of the sheet assembly S0 and 50' by adhesive covering the entire areas of the confronting faces. A back 54 extends across the book between the covers and behind the folded sections of the book in the region of the stitching.

FIGURES 6A and 6B show a machine `for `carrying out most of the steps illustrated in FIGURES l-S. This machine includes a main frame 60 which supports axles 61 and 62 near opposite ends of the frame. A conveyor comprising an endless chain or belt 64 passes around sprockets l66 and 68 on the axles 61 and '62, respectively. The conveyor includes also a plurality of vanes 70. Each of these vanes 70 is connected at one end to a bracket '72 which is secured to the chain 64. Since the vane 70 is connected with the chain 64 at only one location, it can travel around the curve as the chain 64 passes over the sprockets 66 and 68 at opposite ends of the machine. When the chain 64 is running along a horizontal run at the top of the machine, the vanes 70 follow closely one behind the other along `the length of the chain. Each vane 70 is used as the support for a hook which is to be fed through the apparatus.

The top run of the chain 64 runs along a support 76 which holds the chain horizontal and prevents any sag. As each vane 70 moves upwardly around 4the sprocket wheel 66, an attendant or a mechanical feeder places one of the books on the vane with the vane extending into the book substantially midway between the forward and rearward ends of the hook.

Each of the varies 70 has flanges 7S at its lower end in position at rest on the chain 64; and the chain is Wide enough to prevent the vane 70 from tilting yto either side. Thus the varies 70 serve as carriers for conveying sucessive books 20 through the apparatus with the stitched portion of the book uppermost and with the end assemblies at both sides of the book exposed to forming and folding apparatus which will be described.

The sprocket 66 on the shaft 61 is driven from another sprocket 76 by a chain 73 which passes around a sprocket 80 on a jack shaft S2. This jack shaft 82 is driven by a chain 84 from a sprocket of a speed-reducer 86; and the speed reducer 86 is driven by an electric motor 8S through motion-transmitting connections which as a V-belt drive 90.

The sprocket 63 at the other end of the conveyor is driven by similar motion-transmitting connections which are indicated by the same reference characters with a prime appended.

The speed reducer 86 may be of any known construction and is preferably a type of speed reducer which can be adjusted for infinite variations in the speed ratio.

FIGURE 7 shows one of the books 20 draped over the book holder or vane 70 and the end sheets 31 hang down below the sections 22 and below the other sheets 32 and 33. Supports 94 extend inwardly from brackets 96 carried by the main frame 60. These supports are preferably attached to the brackets with set screws 9S and the brackets 96 are connected to the frame 60 by other set screws 99 so that the supports are adjustable toward and from one another to compensate for differences in the thickness of `the books with which the apparatus is used, and up and down to compensate for `differences in the width of books.

The supports 94 curl the longer end sheets 31 outward away from ythe other end sheets of the ibook by guides 100, which hold the upper portions of the end sheets down until after the adhesive has been applied. Beyond the guides 100 there are other separators 101 which engage the inside extended surfaces of the end sheets 31 and swing the end sheets 31 upwardly, as previously described in connection with FIGURE 3.

Before the end sheets swing out to any great extent, the adhesive 40 is applied to both ends of the book by adhesive applicator rollers 104 which dip into wells 106 containing liquid adhesive of the proper tack. These wells 106 are carried on supporting arms 108 which permit the wells and the applicator rollers 104 to move toward one another to accommodate books of different thickness.

FIGURE 8 is a diagrammatic showing of the supporting arms 10S with spring means 110 urging them toward the book and with adjustable stops 112 which can be adjusted to limit the movement of the supporting arms 108 toward one another.

The rollers 104 are carried on shafts in bearings in housings 114 and there are gears Within each of the housings 114 through which the roller 104 is rotated from a driving sprocket 116 that receives power through a driving chain. The driving chain for the near side of the machine in FIGURE 6A is indicated by the reference character 118 and the driving chain for the far side of the machine is indicated by the reference character '1118'.

Both of these chains 11S and 118' are driven at the same speed and from the jack shaft 82 through a chain 120 which drives a gear box 121. The gear box 121 has a power output shaft 124 with a sprocket 126 for driving the chain 118 and another sprocket 12S for driving a chain leading to a jack 132 on which there is a sprocket 134 that drives the chain 118. The supporting arms 108 are moved toward and from one another by a hand Wheel operating a lead screw 142 with right and left-hand threads for shifting the arms 108 toward or from one another by an operation similar to a turnbuckle.

The chain 64 rests on the supporting plate 76 and the flanges 7S at the bottom of each of the vanes 70 provide lateral stability for the vanes, as previously explained. With the wide conveyor chain 64, the anges 78 rest on the conveyor chain, but with a narrow chain lthese anges can slide along rails that are spaced transversely to provide the laterial stability.

Since each vane is connected with the chain at only one place, limit guides are placed on both sides of the flanges 148 to hold the vanes 70 in alignment with their direction of travel. A retainer plate 152 extends across the vanes 70 from a location ahead of the adhesive-apply ing station at the wells 106 and for some distance beyond this station to prevent the books 20 from being displaced upward. Plate 152 is fixed and supported from the main frame 60 by brackets 154.

FIGURE 10 shows the way in which the guides 101 swing the sheets 31 outward and the final upward movement of the end sheets is imparted to them by other guides 164I (FIGURES 6A and 1l). A vertical n 166 extends between the rearward ends of the guides 164 and provides a surface against which the end sheets 31 can be thrust by the guides 164.

As the books reach the lin 166, the upwardly-extending end sheets 31 move into a guideway between plates 170 which are located on opposite sides of the iin 166. These plates diverge outwardly away from one another at their forward ends to provide a bell mouth 172 for guiding the end sheets 31 into the positions shown in FIGURE 1l. This brings the end sheets close to the adhesive area and causes the reinforcing strip 36 (FIGURE 4) to overlap the area coated with the adhesive 40. Rollers 174 (FIGURE 11) apply pressure to `both ends of the book and to Iirmly crease the reinforcing strip and to securely bond it with the adhesive. There are a plurality of rollers 174 so as to maintain pressure on the adhesive and to allow some time lfor cooling and setting of the adhesive bond.

As the book travels beyond the pressure applicator rollers 174, the adhesive hardens and the book is then ready to have the end sheets folded forward again, as previously described in connection with FIGURES 4 and 5. Before making this forward fold, the end sheets and reinforcing strip are scored by scoring elements 180 carried by brackets 182. There are rollers 186 in position to hold the end sheets pressed against the book at the region where the scoring elements 180 contact with the end sheets.

FIGURE 12 shows the scoring elements 180 carried by the sarne brackets 182 as carry the rollers 186. The scoring elements 180 have a limited adjustment by screw means 188 so as to obtain the desired displacement of material of the end sheets when the rollers 186 are in contact with the end sheets.

The fin 166 extends beyond the rollers 186; and at the end of the fin 166 there is a separator 190 which spreads the end sheets 31 apart, as shown in FIGURE 13. Guides 192 at opposite sides of the book and just beyond the separator 190, contact with the end sheets 31 to fold them forward again along the fold line 42 where the sheets have been weakened by the scoring elements.

The book then passes through another station where rollers 196, located at both ends of the book, apply pressure to crease the end sheets and reinforcing strip along the fold line. A plate 198, located above the path of the vanes 7G, holds the books down on the vanes 70 while pressure is applied to the books by the rollers 196. Before the conveyor chain 64 travels over the sprocket 68 a gluing attachment can be added to apply adhesive to the back of the book.

As the conveyor chain 64 travels over the sprocket 68, the vanes 70 tilt down-ward, as shown in FIGURE 6B, and this causes the books to drop olf the conveyor into a basket or tote box 200.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, but changes and modifications can be made and some features can be used in different combinations without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for operating on partially-finished books, each of which has sections secured together with side stitching passing through sheets of the book and through end sheets that have reinforcing strips on the outside thereof in contact with the end sheets for a portion of the extent of the end sheets forward from the side stitching, said side stitching being exposed on the outside of the reinforcing strips, the partially finished book also having front and back sheets, each of which is folded double to form the y leaves of the book, the fold being close to but forward of the stitching and being located under a part of the area of the reinforcing strip, the inside panel of each of the folded front and back sheets being secured to an end sheet and the outside panel of each of the folded front and back sheets being secured to an area of the reinforcing strip that overlies it, the apparatus including,

(a) a frame,

(b) a conveyor with book holders that move successive books along the frame with the top-to-bottom dimensions of each book extending in the direction of travel of the conveyor,

(c) adhesive applicators on both sides of the path of travel of the books in position to apply adhesive to the outside surfaces of the reinforcing strip from the binding edge of the book to a line forward of the side stitching,

(d) guides that fold the reinforcing strip at each end of the book adjacent to the forward edge of each adhesive-coated area back over the entire adhesivecoated area to cover the stitching and to bring a folded-back area of the reinforcing strip into contact with the adhesive, said guides unfolding the folded -front and back sheets that are connected to the reinforcing strips,

(e) pressure applicators for forcing the outer panels, and the part of the reinforcing strip that is connected thereto, and reinforcing strip toward adhesive-coated areas of the reinforcing strip adjacent to the stitching; and

(f) other folding means located along the path of travel of the books beyond the pressure applicators for folding the outer panels and the connected portions of the reinforcing strips forward along a new fold line substantially even with the binding edges of the sections of the ybook and in the direction of the original forward extent of the panels for subsequent connection of the outer panels to a cover for the book.

2. The apparatus described in claim 1 characterized by the adhesive applicators contacting with the book over a width of the panels that is within the limits of the area of the reinforcing strip.

3. The apparatus described in claim 1 characterized 'by the other folding means including elements that score the outer panels along lines on which the covers are to be folded forward, and the other folding means including also guides for bending and creasing the covers and the reinforcing strips along the score lines.

4. The apparatus described in claim 3 characterized by means for adjusting the space between the scoring elements to accommodate books of ydifferent thickness and by rollers which contact with the opposite ends of the book adjacent to the scoring elements and both ahead of and behind the scoring elements, the scoring elements being adjustable with respect to the rollers.

S. The apparatus described in claim 1 characterized by the conveyor including an endless belt and wheels supported by the frame at locations near opposite ends of the frame and around which the endless belt reverses its direction of travel, the book holders of the conveyor being vanes attached to the belt and over which the books are draped with the binding edge of each book at the top of a vane.

6. The apparatus described in claim 5 characterized by the belt being a chain and the wheels being sprocket wheels, power-driving mechanism for advancing the chain at a controlled speed, the vanes being stiff plates, a different bracket for each of the vanes for connecting the vane with one link, and only one link, of the chain whereby the chain is flexible to pass around the sprockets.

7. The apparatus described in claim 6 characterized by the bracket for each vane being located near the forward end of the vane for holding the forward end close to the sprocket as each vane comes around the sprocket at the end of the conveyor at which books are placed on the vanes.

8. The apparatus described in claim 6 characterized by the vanes having wide fianges at their lower ends resting on supporting surfaces for imparting transverse stability to the vanes.

9. The apparatus described in claim 5 characterized by power means for driving the conveyor at a controlled speed, the adhesive applicators being rollers, power means for the adhesive applicators, means for correlating the speed of the conveyor with the speed of the applicator rollers, the spacing between the pressure applicators and the other folding means being correlated with the speed of travel of the conveyor to obtain the hardening of the adhesive before the other folding means fold the end sheets and reinforcing strip forward.

10. The apparatus described in clairn 1 characterized by resilient means urging the adhesive applicators toward one another to accommodate books of diierent thickness, and limits stops vfor determining the minimum spacing of the adhesive applicators when there is no book between them.

11. Apparatus for folding elements of an end sheet assembly of a book which has sections sewn together with end sheet assemblies sewn to both ends of the book by the same stitching that holds the sections together and with the end sheet assemblies extending for a substantial distance beyond the other pages of the book at the edges of the pages opposite the stitches, said apparatus including (a) a conveyor with holders that advance successive books along a course With the end sheets hanging down below the other pages of the books,

(b) separators below said other pages and in position to swing the end sheets outwardly away from the book,

(c) guide means that enter between the sections and the end sheets for swinging the end sheets upwardly,

(d) adhesive applicators which apply areas of adhesive to both sides of the book adjacent the stitching,

(e) pressure elements which torce the end sheets to- Ward the adhesive areas to secure the end sheets to the adhesive areas with the end sheets extending upwardly, and

(f) other folding means which fold the end sheets forward on themselves along a line substantially even with the stitched ends of the sections.

Reerences Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,972,672 9/1934 Alger 156-93 X 2,799,029 7/1957 Schramm ll-l 3,089,534 5/1963 Schuler et al 156-357 EARL M. BERGERT, Primary Examiner.

20 H. F. EPSTEIN, Assistant Examiner. 

